Crossword Genius

Piano pieces inspiring church scores (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

notches

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'piano pieces' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both man-made objects as well as being plural nouns.
Maybe you can see an association between them that I can't see?

'inspiring church scores' is the wordplay.
'inspiring' is an insertion indicator.
'church' becomes 'ch' (common abbreviation).
'scores' becomes 'notes' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'ch' put into 'notes' is 'NOTCHES'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for notches that I've seen before include "V-Shaped cuts or indentations" , "Makes small indentation in" , "Nicks" , "Small v-shaped cuts" , "Small indentations found on chest" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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